PC Install, Yo!

Spent most of the weekend taking apart the PC and installing the entire thing inside the cabinet. I found a nifty way to completely dissect a metal PC case by cracking the metal rivets. It can be done by delicately holding a flat screwdriver against the rivet nub at an angle, and then smacking the handle with a hammer. I highly suggest removing all computer bits you plan to use later before applying this method. It sounds severe, but it was a precision way to get the parts out you might need. Great stress reliever too.

Anyway, I was able to get all the necessary parts out of the case: motherboard, power supply, hard drive, optical drive, and a couple other bits like a front-mounted USB input and mounting plates. This has all been assembled inside the cabinet now. It is amazing how small of a footprint the entire PC innards can take up when pulled apart. I was even able to mount the case fan to the bottom of the cabinet, forcing hot air down and out.

As you can see in the photos, I have the hard drive mounted to the side, the motherboard is mounted so all the inputs can be easily reached with the top lifted up, the extra USB ports are up towards the top (why not?), and you can spot the antenna for the PCI wireless card sticking up. Currently, I'm playing with the idea of not adding the optical drive back in, as I can transfer files over wireless or USB thumb drive.

I've also hacked up my PC speakers to mount in the proper locations. I would like to place the speaker knobs on the outside of the cabinet, as well as figure out how to get an outer-mounted headphone plug to function properly. For now, the knobs are accessible inside. There's also a shot of the only way to currently turn the computer on, using the switch I removed from the case. Still looking in to a better solution for that.